Reid Lanpher to make NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut Manchester teen making the jump to the NASCAR feeder system this season. BY TRAVIS BARRETT – STAFF WRITER MANCHESTER — Just months removed from winning the track championship at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Reid Lanpher is set to embark on a NASCAR career that will get its start at the sanctioning body’s development level. Lanpher, of Manchester, has agreed to run at least five races this season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for Connecticut car owner Ted Marsh. The first race for the 17-year-old driver will be at Bristol...

Reid Lanpher to make NASCAR K&N Pro Series debut

Manchester teen making the jump to the NASCAR feeder system this season.

BY TRAVIS BARRETT – STAFF WRITER

MANCHESTER — Just months removed from winning the track championship at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Reid Lanpher is set to embark on a NASCAR career that will get its start at the sanctioning body’s development level.

Lanpher, of Manchester, has agreed to run at least five races this season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for Connecticut car owner Ted Marsh. The first race for the 17-year-old driver will be at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 16.

“I’m pretty excited. We have five races set right now but we hope to have more,” Lanpher said. “A lot of it depends on sponsorship. I’d like to run them all, but that wasn’t really possible.”

The K&N Pro Series East, where Lanpher will compete, is one of NASCAR’s premier development divisions. Sitting one tier below the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the K&N Pro Series has East and West divisions that compete at short tracks across the country, as well as at tracks hosting national NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Xfinity Series events, like New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

In addition to the race in Bristol, Tennessee, Lanpher also plans to compete in races at NHMS, Iowa Speedway, the road course at Watkins Glen (New York), and Dover International Speedway in Delaware.

The K&N Pro Series has already completed the first two races of its 14-race schedule for 2016. If he can secure more sponsorship, Lanpher said, he’d like to run as many of the remaining races as possible.

Last season, in his second full season of competition at Beech Ridge, Lanpher won a season-high four races en route to the Pro Series title at the track.

This year, the K&N Pro Series will become Lanpher’s first priority, followed by selected Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model events. He’ll round out his schedule with weekly events at Beech Ridge.

This marks the second time that Lanpher, a senior at Maranacook Community High School, has pointed his racing career outside of Maine. In 2013, as a 14-year-old driver, Lanpher was tabbed by JR Motorsports to drive Late Models in North Carolina and Virginia for the team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After a year spent traveling to and from Maine for that opportunity, Lanpher and his family-owned team opted to return to Maine and race Super Late Models and Legends.

Lanpher feels he is better equipped this time around to make the jump to a bigger stage.

“For all the years I’ve spent racing, I haven’t had a year yet where I haven’t learned a huge amount of stuff,” Lanpher said. “Whether it’s driving the cars, the logistics, the cars themselves or the off-track stuff, it’s all big.

“The experience is probably the biggest thing for me. The last three years have really prepared me for this, so I’m ready for it.”

Marsh Racing’s involvement dates back more than 20 years in the K&N Pro Series, with multiple wins at tracks including New Hampshire and Watkins Glen. The team’s best finish at Bristol was a fourth-place finish with former Sprint Cup driver Steve Park behind the wheel in 2001.

Lanpher replaces Dave Garbo Jr., who posted one top five and two top 10 finishes in 14 starts in the Marsh Racing No. 31 during the 2015 K&N Pro Series season.

Lanpher Doubles Up In Maine Captures First Career Beech Ridge, State NASCAR Titles By Jason Cunningham, NASCAR November 23, 2015 – 4:45pm DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In a sport where it is common for one team to help out another in need, Reid Lanpher went the extra mile in the finale at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. In the closest race for a state championship in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series during the 2015 season, Lanpher entered the finale at the Scarborough, Maine, oval with a 10-point lead on Garrett Hall. The challenger wrecked his car in practice, but in an...

Lanpher Doubles Up In Maine

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In a sport where it is common for one team to help out another in need, Reid Lanpher went the extra mile in the finale at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.

In the closest race for a state championship in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series during the 2015 season, Lanpher entered the finale at the Scarborough, Maine, oval with a 10-point lead on Garrett Hall. The challenger wrecked his car in practice, but in an act of exceptional sportsmanship, Lanpher offered his backup car to Hall to be able to compete in that night’s feature.

“Garrett is a great competitor. He always runs me clean and he was a very talented driver as a rookie this year,” said Lanpher, a 17-year-old racer from Manchester, Maine.

“As soon as he wrecked we went right down and offered it to him. We were more than happy to do it.”

As it turned out, Lanpher’s generosity nearly cost him the crown.

“We were eight positions apart at the end of the race, so nobody really knew (who won the state title),” Lanpher said. “Come Monday morning we were calling NASCAR to figure out who the champion was. It was pretty cool how close it was.”

In fact, it couldn’t have been any closer. Lanpher and Hall ended up tied in NASCAR state points at 378. NASCAR U.S. state and Canadian province championships are determined by the best 18 finishes at tracks within the respective state or province. Lanpher was awarded the Maine championship on a tiebreaker by virtue of his four wins on the season to zero for Hall.

The good karma didn’t hurt either.

In addition to his first career state championship, Lanpher also outdistanced Hall for Beech Ridge’s Division I title by final score of 763-737. A high school senior, Lanpher posted seven top fives and 12 top 10s in 15 starts in addition to his four checkered flags.

It was a midseason streak of success that positioned Lanpher for the titles. His first win didn’t come until the ninth feature of the season on July 25, but it began a run of victories in four of six races during the second half behind the wheel of his No. 59 Mission Trailers/Team EJP Racing Chevrolet.

Lanpher took some satisfaction in his accomplishments due to the level of competition that is featured weekly at the .333-mile asphalt oval. In 2015 Lanpher was one of eight different winners in the track’s headlining pro series late model division.

“Beech Ridge is probably one of the toughest weekly divisions out there,” Lanpher said. “It’s crazy how competitive it is. There so little separation. The handicap system definitely also makes it a challenge every week.”

Lanpher’s achievements have not been limited to the racetrack either. He was a member of the Maranacook High School boys soccer team that captured two state titles and recorded a 50-game winning streak. He is a member of National Honor Society and is simultaneously working to complete an associate’s degree at Thomas College in addition to his high school diploma. Lanpher intends to continue his higher education upon graduation next spring.

As for racing in 2016, the plan is still coming together. He is leaning towards returning to defend the Beech Ridge championship and hopes to branch out even more than he did this past season for some of the bigger late model and touring series events.

The support for Lanpher’s 2015 titles came from Scott’s Recreation and Docks.com in addition to his primary sponsors Mission Trailers and Team EJP Racing. Jason Ricker was the team’s crew chief while Lanpher’s father, Scott, was his spotter. The rest of the support staff and crew members included Lanpher’s mother Holly, sister Emily, girlfriend Alexa Perkins, Tommy Ricker, Erin Collomy, Jason Collomy, Larry Collomy, Wayne Ladd, Mike DiBaise and John Jacques.

Lanpher will now be honored for his Beech Ridge and Maine crowns along with other track and state/province champions from across North America as part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards on Dec. 11 at the Charlotte Convention Center and NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Beech Ridge held its own 2015 Awards Banquet on Nov. 14 and recognized Lanpher’s accomplishments as well as that of its other four Whelen All-American Series weekly divisions.

Tough PASS race at Oxford today. We fought a loose car all day and it got even worse in the feature. Not exactly sure where we finished but it was somewhere around 19th out of 35 cars. Still thankful to have rolled the car in the trailer in one piece after a fun day at the track with my great crew and family! The season may be over for some but we love to do as much racing as possible, so stay tuned for upcoming races! Thanks to all of my sponsors for their support this season. It has been...

Tough PASS race at Oxford today. We fought a loose car all day and it got even worse in the feature. Not exactly sure where we finished but it was somewhere around 19th out of 35 cars. Still thankful to have rolled the car in the trailer in one piece after a fun day at the track with my great crew and family!

The season may be over for some but we love to do as much racing as possible, so stay tuned for upcoming races! Thanks to all of my sponsors for their support this season. It has been a blast! Eastern Township Docks, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation, Houlton Power Sports

After some major set backs trying to qualify for the race we made it into the show through a previsional. I drove from 29th to 2nd by lap 150. We pitted and then I drove from 19th to a very satisfying 8th place finish out of 36 cars in our first PASS 300 race. I would like to give my crew a huge thanks for getting the car back together for the feature. Another big thanks goes to my parents and all my great sponsors for making all these races possible! Les Quais de l’Estrie, Team EJP Racing, Mission Trailers,...

After some major set backs trying to qualify for the race we made it into the show through a previsional. I drove from 29th to 2nd by lap 150. We pitted and then I drove from 19th to a very satisfying 8th place finish out of 36 cars in our first PASS 300 race. I would like to give my crew a huge thanks for getting the car back together for the feature. Another big thanks goes to my parents and all my great sponsors for making all these races possible! Les Quais de l’Estrie, Team EJP Racing, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation, Houlton Power Sports

15th to 8th tonight at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway!!! WE FINISHED 2ND IN POINTS OUR ROOKIE YEAR AT THE TRACK. Can’t thank my crew and supporters enough!!!! Couldn’t do it without them and my awesome sponsors Les Quais de l’Estrie(Docks.com), Team EJP Racing, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation, and Houlton Power Sports!!!!

15th to 8th tonight at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway!!! WE FINISHED 2ND IN POINTS OUR ROOKIE YEAR AT THE TRACK. Can’t thank my crew and supporters enough!!!! Couldn’t do it without them and my awesome sponsors Les Quais de l’Estrie(Docks.com), Team EJP Racing, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation, and Houlton Power Sports!!!!

16th to 6th tonight in the pro series with 3/4 power due to motor issues! Very fun race!! 6th this late in the season can not be taken for granted at all!!! Wooohoo! Big thanks to my crew and Team EJP Racing, Les Quais de l’Estrie, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation and Houlton Power Sports!!!! -Reid

16th to 6th tonight in the pro series with 3/4 power due to motor issues! Very fun race!! 6th this late in the season can not be taken for granted at all!!! Wooohoo! Big thanks to my crew and Team EJP Racing, Les Quais de l’Estrie, Mission Trailers, Scotts Recreation and Houlton Power Sports!!!! -Reid

Tough night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Big thanks to my crew for putting a good car under me. It seemed I would pass five cars to get hit and shuffled back several times over. We ended up 11th after starting 17th(I missed a shift in the heat putting me way back). Could have been much worse and not taking that finish for granted. Back at it next Saturday!-Reid

Tough night at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Big thanks to my crew for putting a good car under me. It seemed I would pass five cars to get hit and shuffled back several times over. We ended up 11th after starting 17th(I missed a shift in the heat putting me way back). Could have been much worse and not taking that finish for granted. Back at it next Saturday!-Reid

2nd Tonight in the legends car to finish off the 2014 Thursday Thunder season. I ended up 2nd in points. Congratulations to Mathew Burgoin on a great championship year. Huge thanks to my family, crew, and sponsors for making all the legends car racing possible this year! -Reid

2nd Tonight in the legends car to finish off the 2014 Thursday Thunder season. I ended up 2nd in points. Congratulations to Mathew Burgoin on a great championship year. Huge thanks to my family, crew, and sponsors for making all the legends car racing possible this year! -Reid